Evidence points to improvements in atmospheric pollution levels as a key driver behind hotter oceans, raising concerns about our understanding of climate systems.
According to a study by Dr Knut von Salzen of the University of Washington, when there are fewer airborne particles clouds become dimmer. As a result, they are capable of reflecting less sunlight back into space, allowing more of that shortwave energy to reach the ocean surface, in turn raising temperatures.
The research — which backs up similar studies that show a correlation between cleaner air and global heating spikes — has identified a 2.8% reduction in marine cloud reflectivity across the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific. Together, these regions make up around one-seventh of the Earth’s surface, essentially meaning the impact of this change is being felt globally.
Environment Journal has reported extensively on rocketing Maine temperatures, which have far outpaced both modelling and the rate at which most areas on land have been warming. Up until now, though, there has been little evidence to offer a clear cut explanation. In some ways, this is a positive step — we can’t tackle what we don’t understand.
But from another perspective, it not only reveals a dangerous complexity in how unbalanced climate systems now are, it also paints in sharp relief how much we still don’t grasp about the way the planet works and potential responses to our neglect and attempts to make amends.
‘[This] raises the prospect of a continuing cloud reflectivity decrease and an associated warming impact in these regions, given that the emission reductions are projected to persist over the next few decades,’ the study reads. ‘Further research is needed to assess whether near-term climate scenarios should be revised to account for the weak cloud reflectivity reductions in the Earth System Models.’
Image: Robert Garcia / Unsplash
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